Picture hanging tool

ABSTRACT

A picture hanging tool comprises a main body having a flange adapted to overlie the upper edge of a picture frame and a slide which is adjustable relative to the main body. The slide may be secured in any selected one of a number of different positions relative to the main body member and has at one end thereof a projecting coupling carrying a marker which may be pressed lightly against the wall on which a picture is to be hung for the purpose of marking the place at which a picture support should be fixed to the wall. The projecting coupling also includes retainers for accommodating picture hangers, and such projection coupling is adjustable to enable the retainers to face a selected one of different positions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/593,704 filed Nov. 2, 2006 and claims the benefit of such filing date.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a tool or aid especially adapted for use in hanging a framed picture in a desired position on a vertical wall. It often is difficult to locate a picture in the desired position relative the height of the wall, and it is especially difficult to hang a group of pictures adjacent one another in such manner that the upper edges of the pictures, or their frames, are at the same level or at selected different levels.

The difficulties referred to above are well known and many proposals have been made for overcoming or alleviating them. In many instances, however, the proposed solutions involve tools which are cumbersome and difficult to operate. In addition, a good many of the hanging aids proposed heretofore require the presence of two persons to enable one or more pictures to be hung on a wall in selected relationship to the height of the wall and to one another.

Even though some of the previously proposed picture hanging tools have desirable attributes, it is not uncommon for the users of such tools to use them improperly, thereby causing multiple holes to be formed in the wall before a picture is hung at a desired position on such wall. In some instances the multiple holes are visible after a picture is hung, thereby necessitating repair of the wall.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a picture hanging tool which overcomes the objectionable characteristics referred to above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A picture hanging tool constructed according to the invention comprises a main body portion having at one end thereof a laterally extending flange that is adapted to overlie and engage the upper edge of a picture frame. The main body also includes a groove for the support of a slide member which is slideable toward and away from the projecting flange. The slide member may be fixed in any selected one of a number of adjusted positions relative to the body. The body also has a handle which facilitates the manipulation of the body and slide member in use.

Supported by the slide member is a coupling member which projects from the slide in the same direction as that in which the flange at one end of the body projects and is parallel thereto. The coupling member is provided with means for retaining a frame support or suspension of the kind carried by the picture frame, thereby enabling the tool to be used for the hanging of pictures having different kinds and lengths of suspensions.

The coupling member has a free end which, in use, may confront the wall on which a picture is to be hung. The free end of such coupling member is pointed or otherwise configured to enable it to be pressed lightly against the wall and provide a mark or indentation indicative of the position which the picture suspension should occupy on the wall when the picture has been hung.

THE DRAWINGS

Apparatus according to the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric, exploded view of the apparatus in condition for operation;

FIG. 2 is an exploded side elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded front elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged, side elevational view of a part of the apparatus.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference character 1 and comprises a body member 2 having a base 3 flanked by a pair of rails 4 of dovetail shape for the accommodation of a slide member 5 which is slideable vertically toward and away from a laterally projecting flange 6 carried by the base member 2 at one end thereof. The flange 6 has a flat surface 7 which faces toward the opposite end of the body member 2. Opposite edges of the slide member 5 are complementary to the dovetail sides of the rails 4, thereby interlocking the body and slide members and ensuring smooth sliding movements of the slide member longitudinally of the body member.

At that side of the body member opposite the slide member 5 is a handle or grip 8 which extends substantially the full length of the body member. The base 3 of the member 2 has a longitudinally extending slot 9 through which the threaded end 10 of an anchor screw 11 may pass. The threaded end of the screw normally is accommodated in a correspondingly threaded opening 10 a in the slide member 5. A flange 12 carried by the screw bears upon the rear face of the base member so as to enable the screw to clamp the slide 5 against the base 3 in any selected position of adjustment longitudinally of the body member.

At one end of the slide 5 is a projection or coupling member 13 comprising a flange 14 which confronts and parallels the surface 7 of the flange 6 and is carried by the slide 5. The flange 14 is reinforced by a bracket 15 which underlies the flange 14 and is secured to the lower surface of the latter and to the slide 5. Preferably, the coupling member 13 carries a spindle 16 which is rotatably accommodated in an opening in the slide member 5 thereby enabling the projection to rotate through at least 180°.

The coupling member 13 has two grooves or retainers 17 and 18 therein. The groove 17 is adapted to accommodate a picture frame or hanger such as a suspension bracket (not shown) that is secured in any suitable way to the back of a frame (not shown) which supports a picture, poster, dish, or other object that is to be hung on a wall (not shown). The groove 18 is adapted to accommodate a flexible, filamentary support (not shown), such as a wire, cord, or the like having its opposite ends secured by suitable fasteners, such as eyelet screws fixed to opposite sides of a frame for a picture or the like as is common place. The filamentary support conventionally has a length greater than the width of the frame to which is secured, thereby enabling the support to assume substantially an inverted V form when the frame is suspended from a support on a wall.

The free end of the coupling member 13 is formed as a marker which, as shown, comprises a point 19 which, when the tool is in use, confronts the wall on which the object to be hung.

The tool may include spirit levels 20 and 21 that are adhered to or accommodated in openings (not shown) formed in the body member 2 so as to assist the user in positioning the tool in such manner that the body member is vertical or at a desired inclination.

To condition the tool for use in hanging a framed picture, for example, the picture is placed face down on a flat surface and the tool is placed on the back of the frame in such position that the lower surface 7 of the flange 6 bears against that edge of the frame which will be uppermost when the picture is hung on a wall. The back of the picture frame will have secured thereto either a hanger bracket or a filamentary wire or cord fastened at its opposite ends to securing devices, such as eyelet screws. The wire or cord conventionally has a length greater than the distance between the securing screws so there is slack in the wire or cord. The anchor screw 11 will be loosened thereby enabling the slide member 5 to be adjusted longitudinally of the frame member 2 toward or away from the flange 6. If the hanging wire or cord is accommodated in the slot 18 of the coupling 13, movement of the slide 5 toward the flange 6 will enable the wire or cord to become taut and occupy a position relative to the frame that it will occupy when the picture is hung on the wall.

When the slack in the hanging wire or cord is taken up by sliding movement of the coupling 13 and the wire or cord is taut, the screw 12 may be tightened so as to secure the slide relative to the base member. The dovetail construction of the sides of the slide and the sides of the groove 4 ensure secure retention of the slide relative to the body 2. The slot 9 in the base 3 of the body member 2 enables the anchor screws 11 to move with the slide 5.

Following the securing of the slide in the appropriate position of adjustment relative to the body member 2, the tool may be removed from the picture and moved to a wall on which the picture or other object is to be hung. The tool is moved to a position in which the flange 6 and the coupling 13 confront the wall and the tool is adjusted vertically to a position in which the lower surface 7 of the flange 6 is at the position the upper edge of the picture frame should occupy when the frame is hung on the wall. When the tool has been so positioned, the coupling 13 may be pushed manually lightly toward the wall whereupon the pointed end 19 of the coupling will make a slight indentation or mark in the wall. A picture suspension hanger or nail then may be mounted on the wall in such position that, when the hanger wire or cord is supported by the suspension nail, the upper and lower ends of the frame will occupy the same position relative to the support nail that it did when such suspension wire was accommodated in the groove 18 of the coupling 13. When the picture or other object has been secured to the wall, the upper and lower ends of its frame will correspond exactly to the distance of the frame from the base of the retainer groove 18 that was determined during the fitting of the tool to the picture frame.

In some instances the position of the wall-mounted picture support should be at a greater distance from the top of the picture frame than it is in other instances. In such cases the slide member 15 may be removed from the body member 2, turned end for end, and replaced in the groove in the body member so that the coupling 13 is 180° removed from the position shown in FIGS. 1-3. This adjustment enables a significantly greater spacing to be obtained between the coupling 13 and the flange 6. Following such adjustment, the projection 13 may be rotated via its spindle 16 so that the grooves again confront the flange 6. In all other respects, the operation of the tool is the same as that which has been described above.

The tool enables one to hang pictures that are level horizontally and hang vertically. It also enables one to hang pictures which have either filamentary or bracket-type supports. The tool also enables one to hang pictures without requiring help from anyone else, even in the case where clusters of pictures are to be hung on the same wall. In addition, the tool enables pictures to be hung without having to form multiple holes in the wall.

The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred form of the invention, but is intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims. 

1. A tool for use in hanging in a selected position on a wall an object having a hanger supported by said object, said tool comprising a body member; a flange carried by said body member for removable engagement with an object supporting member carried by an object to be hung on said wall; a slide member; means mounting said slide member on said body member for sliding movements toward and away from said flange; a retainer member on said slide member for removable attachment to said supporting member; and marker means carried by one of said members for engagement with said wall for making a mark on said wall to indicate a selected position which said supporting member should occupy relative to said wall to enable said object to be supported by said support member in said selected position on said wall.
 2. The tool according to claim 1 wherein said retainer member has a plurality of different kinds of receivers, one of which is adapted to accommodate a filament and the other of which is adapted to accommodate a bracket.
 3. A tool for use in hanging an object on a wall, said object having thereon a support, said tool comprising a body member; a slide member; means mounting said slide member on said body member for longitudinal sliding movements relative thereto; a locating flange at one end of said body member and extending laterally therefrom, a coupling member carried by said slide member and extending laterally therefrom parallel to and in the same direction as said locating flange, said coupling member including retainer means for coupling said coupling member to said object support; and releasable securing means reacting between said body member and said slide member for releasably securing the latter to said body member in a selected one of a number of adjusted positions longitudinally of said body member.
 4. The tool according to claim 3 wherein said coupling member includes marking means for making a mark on said wall when said slide member occupies said selected one of said positions.
 5. The tool according to claim 4 wherein said marking means comprises a pointed end for engaging and indenting said wall.
 6. The tool according to claim 3 wherein said retainer means comprises a recess for removably accommodating said object support.
 7. The tool according to claim 3 wherein said means mounting said slide member on said body member includes a groove in said body member in which said slide member is accommodated, said groove having side walls engaging opposite sides of said body member, said walls and said sides together forming an interlocking dovetailed joint.
 8. The tool according to claim 3 wherein said groove in said body member has a base on which said slide member bears, said base having a slot extending therethrough, said slide member having an opening therein, said releasable securing means comprising a locking pin carried by said slide member and having one end thereof extending through said slot into said opening, said pin having a flange between its ends which bears on said body member at opposite edges of said slot, said pin being rotatable to a position in which said slide member is clamped on said base.
 9. The tool according to claim 8 wherein said opening and said one end of said pin are correspondingly threaded.
 10. The tool according to claim 3 wherein said coupling member is rotatable relative to said slide member.
 11. The tool according to claim 10 wherein said coupling member is rotatable through at least 180°.
 12. A tool for use in determining the position on a wall to support a frame, said tool comprising a body member having a groove in one face thereof; a slide member slideably accommodated in said groove; a flange at one end of said body member and projecting laterally thereof for engagement with a frame to be mounted on a wall; a coupling member carried by said slide member and projecting laterally in the same direction as and parallel to said flange, said coupling member having a recess therein for accommodating a flexible frame support carried by said frame and being of such length as to be slack, said coupling member being movable along said body member when said frame support is accommodated in said recess and in such direction to a position in which said frame support is taut, said slide member being removable from said groove for rotation end-to-end and replaceable in said groove; and means mounting said coupling member on said slide member for rotation through at least 180° in response to the replacement of said side member in said groove. 